Air Force medical providers, engineers, and support staff worked with Mongolian and Sri Lanken military personnel this month during the fourth annual Pacific Angel exercise. This initiative is meant to cultivate bonds and foster goodwill between US and Asia-Pacific countries through capacity-building in the realm of humanitarian assistance. This was the first year that Pacific Angel took place in Mongolia. In total, 130 military participants, along with aid workers and interpreters, provided health screenings and veterinary assistance and carried out engineering projects in the remote villages of Delgerkhaan, Jargaltkhaan, and Tsenkermandal and in Ondorkhaan city in Hentii province during the July 13-24 event. Thirteenth Air Force at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, plans and executes Pacific Angel. (Tsenkermandal report by Lt. Col. Tracey Saiki)
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…